[Walker]

I'm looking to scan in a paper application form (like for a job) and then from the computer type in the needed information. I used to use software from Visioneer that did this perfectly,but that was clear back in the mid 1990's and Visioneer has since dropped Mac support. Are there any OS X computer apps that will do this?

Thanks,

lw

[rytc]

Originally posted by Walker:
I'm looking to scan in a paper application form (like for a job) and then from the computer type in the needed information. I used to use software from Visioneer that did this perfectly,but that was clear back in the mid 1990's and Visioneer has since dropped Mac support. Are there any OS X computer apps that will do this?

Thanks,

lw

Not being totally familiar with the aforementioned software I can't comment. However, why can't you just use a simple graphics app to type text into the appropriate places and then print the image with text.

Cheers Ry

[rytc]

Originally posted by rytc:
Not being totally familiar with the aforementioned software I can't comment. However, why can't you just use a simple graphics app to type text into the appropriate places and then print the image with text.

Cheers Ry

Or are we talking some sort of OCR type software? Which isn't really necessary in this situation as you don't want to edit the text just add to.

[rytc]

Originally posted by rytc:
Not being totally familiar with the aforementioned software I can't comment. However, why can't you just use a simple graphics app to type text into the appropriate places and then print the image with text.
Presumably looking for a new job isn't an occupation in itself?

Cheers Ry

[Synotic]

If you just scan in the document can't you use some page layout program and paste in the scan? At the point use text frames over the image and then delete the underlying image. If you don't have an app like InDesign then I'm sure AppleWorks can do it.

[meem]

outside of the above mentioned suggestions. if you are going to be using the same forms quite a bit I suggest getting Acrobat and making form fields. As long as you can save your scan to pdf, which you should be able to do from any OSX print dialogue this would work. though it would to time consuming if you are just using form once

[Walker]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Actually, this software would be for my wife, and it was going to be tricky enough simply teaching her to scan in the form let alone use a graphics app to fill in the blank text fields. Visioneer's software was very good and simple. Scan it in and all the spaces were immediately highlighted ready for text input. Hitting the "tab" button would move the cursor from one text field to the next.

lw

[Orion27]

Here's what I do and I've often wondered if there is a better way. I scan the document or form in Photoshop ( probably Photoshop Elements can do this too.) I resize the document to the appropriate dimensions and sharpen it. Then I choose the Text tool and type in the appropriate information. It takes a little practice to find thhe right font or font size ( american typewriter anyone?) and save as jpeg for easy Email transmission or Tiff if printing out the form.

[absmiths]

What about this: http://www.dominionsw.com/datasheet.html

I can't tell if it automatically converts to forms, but it seems to be close.

[Synotic]

Originally posted by Orion27:
Here's what I do and I've often wondered if there is a better way. I scan the document or form in Photoshop ( probably Photoshop Elements can do this too.) I resize the document to the appropriate dimensions and sharpen it. Then I choose the Text tool and type in the appropriate information. It takes a little practice to find thhe right font or font size ( american typewriter anyone?) and save as jpeg for easy Email transmission or Tiff if printing out the form.

I just realized that people reprint the entire form . I suppose that should of been obvious but I figured people scanned in the form to figure out where to place the form and then printed over the form to economize the ink.

Anyways, I'd wager that using raster image isn't a good idea simply because it wouldn't print well... But if you're reprinting the entire scan then I suppose you don't have any other choice. What are the "appropriate dimensions"? If document is sufficiently large then it may or may not affect the end quality of the print. However I don't know if this is your goal or not.

You may want to check out OmniPage as it might have that feature.

[Orion27]

Instead of document size I should have said print size. Rasterizing I think becomes a problem if you try to sharpen the image after you have added text. the Scanned image usually rquires sharpening while the text added does not. Sharpening first eliminates the rasterizing hiccup which I don't fully understand anyway.. Something to do with layers..